Osaka, 2022

Masaki Kazushi  

Masaki Kazushi is a Japanese painter born in Osaka in 1952, recognized for his universe of abstract expressionism, contemporary abstract painting, and lyrical abstraction. He discovers painting at the age of seven and develops an artistic sensibility very early on that deviates from traditional realism. His taste for dreamlike compositions and imagination has made him noticed, but also misunderstood during his childhood, with his teachers judging his work too far removed from academic conventions. This freedom of expression nevertheless became the signature of all his work.

After living for several years in Japan, Masaki Kazushi settles successively on the French Riviera then in Belgium, where he continues the development of his pictorial language. After a career away from the art world, he gradually returns to creation by favoring an approach based on memory, intuition, and imagination rather than direct observation. His works explore abstract landscapes, organic structures, and compositions evoking a universe that is at once futuristic, mineral, and tribal. The forms seem to emerge spontaneously from the material, while signs close to an unconscious writing appear at the heart of his canvases, reinforcing their meditative and symbolic dimension.

Masaki Kazushi works mainly in oil and acrylic on canvas, sometimes combining both techniques to create surfaces rich in textures and depth. His plastic vocabulary is based on superimpositions of colors, intuitive gestures, and a complex spatial construction where colored masses dialogue in a balance between energy and contemplation. His work is part of a constant search around color, matter, and perception, inviting the viewer to an immersive experience where abstraction and emotion meet.

The artist has presented his work at several exhibitions in Antwerp, notably Lockdown Sessions (Studio Aesse, October 2020) and the solo exhibition ENTER 33 (Studio Aesse, December 2020). His works are today distributed by several European galleries and feature on international platforms dedicated to contemporary art. With his intuitive approach to painting, his gestural language, and his exploration of abstract universes imbued with spirituality, Masaki Kazushi establishes himself as a singular figure in contemporary Japanese abstract painting, developing a body of work where color, material, abstraction, expressionism, abstract landscape, and pictorial writing meet in a deeply personal plastic search.